Wake up, Buy Here, Pay Here people.
It's a beautiful day.
Go grab yourself another cup of joe and say hello to Jim and Michelle Rhodes on the Buy Here, Pay Here morning show.
Take it away, you two.
Hey everybody.
Happy Friday.
Happy Friday.
And Merry Christmas.
Oh my gosh.
It's, yeah, it's like Friday Eve Eve.
Yeah.
Eve.
Eve.
Friday Eve Eve Eve.
I don't know.
We probably have three shopping days till Christmas, including today.
stores will be open sunday so yeah i mean it's christmas so a lot of those hopefully you're not one of those but i have been guilty of last minute stuff in the past and i mean i'm not proud of it but uh well actually why do we get so worked up about it's like it's like this huge medal that people say on september 1st or october 1st my christmas shopping is done it's like
Halloween and your Christmas shopping is done but then they get to sit back and enjoy the season so I can see the absolute benefits of that I was shopping by myself the other day and I must have had so many women looking at me like oh look how cute he's shopping for Christmas
by himself.
And I turned to a couple of them and I just said, mind your own business.
It was just the voices in Jim's head.
Um, and it's, he's, uh, by the way, we're both feeling a lot better.
Um, and so I've kind of been doing a lot of the, the different shopping things on Amazon.
and so jim's like i can't go on to amazon and order anything because you're going to know exactly what it is that i've gotten for you so it's like it was an understood thing that he didn't go into amazon to look at what i had ordered and um he didn't get to buy from amazon yeah so yeah so i go out physically shopping yeah and but you know what then you got this like isn't that cute and then that that's a level of appreciation gratitude whatever yeah
So just a couple days left, and yeah, it's going to be... We will be recording for the podcast.
The Monday episode is on Christmas Day.
I think you're not going to want to miss that one.
You won't probably watch it on Christmas morning, but we would recommend you find time to see that.
Yeah, and if you have not already...
A really great place to go and to get access to all of those is our YouTube channel, jimrodes.octane.group.
There's going to be some shifts to just kind of a pre-announcement in the Octane group as we hit the first of the year.
There's a ton.
There's a ton.
There really is.
So we have several things that are initiatives that are coming.
And I'm going to say Karen Barnett, who is our... Our first.
Our first ambassador.
I told her earlier this week that there were a couple of things that we were going to be talking about.
And I just want to let you know that it's probably going to be pushed until next week.
So...
You're telling Karen?
Yes, I'm telling Karen.
If you're listening to, there were some announcements that we were, that I had told her we were going to be announcing this week and we're not ready.
We've got some that are going to be ready.
They were almost ready this morning.
And so the, you know, we had some final edits, but I would say that, yeah, look for,
yeah tune in these last few episodes of the year here we got a lot of stuff to talk about and by the way the outpouring from that email that i sent yesterday on those of you who got one you know most everybody got one if i missed you we'll make sure you get it but it's like it was the outpouring the response that i received from that so many people took time to read that and write a lengthy reply and send me a message and and you know just so for those who didn't see it it's a
Jim Collison, M.D.
: You know, basically on my 60th birthday yesterday, I took a moment to kind of reflect and share my perspective on all the stuff and just, you know.
Maika Leibbrandt, M.D.
: It was great.
It was great.
I mean, we got up, we changed all of our meetings so that Jim could have the day.
And he's like, I want to write a letter to people in the industry that are our colleagues and all of that.
And so that was the work for the day.
And those of you who follow social media, the only thing that Jim asked for for his birthday
And it was tongue-in-cheek.
Yeah, yeah.
So it was tongue-in-cheek.
So he asked for a marching band.
All I want is a marching band.
We saw a TV show where they did an over-the-top birthday.
It was actually the morning show on Apple Television.
Was it Apple TV?
Yeah.
The one with Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So it was his birthday.
One of those episodes, they did a big...
thing for his birthday and they brought in a marching band and it was just over the top somebody popped out of a cake that kind of thing so i just told michelle after the thing i said look my birthday's coming up anything short of a marching band with a drum major is going to be a disappointment so what you saw in the video yesterday yeah if you haven't seen her it just is i i used a garbage can and turned it into a hat and um i was actually um the coat i was wearing was jim's birthday gift because he um
I don't know about you guys that are out there traveling all the time.
He had a really nice wool overcoat that got left somewhere.
We couldn't figure out where it was at, so he got a new overcoat.
All right, we should probably talk about the thing that we're here to talk about.
Yeah, and I think for today we can...
you know, we, we set out to talk about we owes and, and I put out the word that we'd love to have some dealers join us and people just kind of being bashful.
Well, Tyler Simmons did say I would join you, but he, I think he was thinking Monday.
And so, and I was like, it can't be Monday cause that's Christmas day, but we'll, we'll take you up on having you on a show.
There's tons of stuff coming up.
We're going to want you to add to the conversation.
So yeah, there'll be opportunities, but yeah, we just, in the future, I hope when I put that stuff out that people, maybe I'll just start emailing people, but I just, I, I,
really want to have dealers speak up and one of the things we're finding is we're over here bootstrapping our company it's hard for me to find time to chase down all the the potential guests yeah well it's yeah because it's it's us so right now step forward and let me know that you we're just we're just chatting on the morning show all we're doing is talking about the stuff that you guys talk about all the time so so come join the conversation some absolutely so the the just so you know i mean we we teased a little bit on wednesday's show um
And because we were talking about how to say no and keep a customer.
And this subject of we owes, which we kind of broadened a little bit and says postal repairs.
Jim put out a poll on Wednesday about what people do in regards to we owes and how many people are doing we owes.
And predominantly, I mean, we're not going to show you the numbers, but predominantly it was under 25%.
Yeah, most people said, yeah.
And then there were some that said under 5%.
So we have to explain what the question was.
The question was, what percentage of the time
do your we owes at the time of delivery have some promise after delivery of something of a mechanical nature not come get your plates or like or like tires or something like tires or post sales so you know that would be windshield with we owes i typically so maybe let's first break it down into a weo would basically address things that we promised at the time of delivery that'll be done after delivery
Okay.
And then so we can also talk today a little bit about after sale repairs, which are really doesn't have anything to do what was promised on the wheel.
It just comes in after.
And then you get into this Goodwill thing.
We won't spend a lot of time there because I'm 90% sure we did a topic on Goodwill repairs some time ago.
So people can search that episode and get the details on that one.
But for today, I want to talk about WIOs.
And the other reason this came up, we're working with a client now who's really looking to put a lid on the spending.
It can be so expensive.
In 2023, they spent a ton of money in Goodwill repairs.
And they have a short-term warranty.
Not all of them were WIOs, but there's a lot also of post-sale repairs.
More of that, actually.
And so there's a lot of procedural things and kind of policy and really it's about accountability in their case.
And with a lot of dealers, it would be about accountability, about sticking to a practice.
Isn't that something that we talk about all the time?
It's like, one, you can't measure what you don't.
Can't manage what you don't.
You can't manage what you don't measure.
Two is that, you know, you can't hold anybody accountable if you don't have something written.
That's like, this is the internal policy of what we do.
And so, you know, it's a good idea if you're going to change anything or you really want to
didn't um dial in that you write it down and make sure everyone is trained on it but yeah and then i think you know there's also the matter when you think about the weo so so let's think about what happens customers on the lot looking at a car and they say you know i like that one i'll buy that one if you put two tires on it those tires in the back look a little weak if you put two tires on it i'll buy it and in the interest of getting the deal done we do the deal today and they come back next week on us an appointment to get the tires done to go to our tire shop right so
There's that, but the question is not just what goes in the documents, but also sometimes it's what is said to the customer verbally.
Like it's time, beyond the we owe, you sit down and you sign your warranty documents, your buyer's guide, it's maybe the contract is as is, maybe the contract is with a short-term warranty, but the question is not just what is the customer initial, like what do the documents say, but what does the person who's closing the loan say to the customer verbally beyond what's in the documents?
What does the salesperson say on the lot that is outside the documents?
Because that complicates the whole process.
And so it's one of the first things we'll be doing working with this client is we've got to bring that to a stop.
And we've got to find a way to make sure.
We're making suggestions, but we've got to find ways to make sure that the customer hears the same thing.
Every customer hears the same thing.
And that helps us, if I'm the dealer, it helps me to stand my ground, hold the customer accountable to what was the understanding.
Because part of what we teach in White Hat Way is we're going to honor what we do.
We're going to make sure we fulfill what was promised.
And so we hope that that's specific and in writing.
And then we're going to also ask the customer to fulfill their side of responsibility.
So this is kind of it all, everything we would talk about in the context of WIOs and after sale repairs and that whole process, tightening it all up, it's going to all kind of go back to this thing about holding the customer accountable.
yeah and and your team accountable yeah too because it's you know the we owe the post cell repairs all of that that's a pretty big policy sure i mean it's a pretty it's it's a big policy any every dealer should have and so it's the dealers determine what it is that your policy is and put it in writing because it's really a dangerous slope if you don't have one and you just kind of let people do what they're going to do
You have maybe a little bit of a verbal.
And how awesome is it when a team member promises something that you're like, we're not doing that.
And then you've got to either honor something that you don't want to honor or you've got to backtrack with the salesperson and the customer.
And that's a hard place to put yourself.
Yeah.
And it's avoidable.
Like, it's just something that we can address.
And I think it can be done at closing.
So regardless of what the salesperson might have said on the lot to the customer in the interest of promising to get them in the building, get them to sign the contract, whatever, regardless of what promises were made out there as a salesperson.
We should be able to undo that at the time of contract signing.
Hopefully you don't have to because it doesn't look very good when you have to undo something.
So you wanted to address that in the context of what would you say to the customer at the time of closing in order to nullify an undo.
Just let's get it on the table.
If you were promised anything prior to signing this contract in this document,
let's talk about it.
What were you promised?
Well, the salesperson said, if I bought this car, I was going to get some new floor mats or window tint or whatever.
Let's talk about that.
You know, it's so it's not in here.
So, so got to address it now because it's always my preference that I want to be able to hold a customer accountable to the understanding because I'm, again, I'm prepared to do my part.
I'm going to ask the customer to do their part.
And I had a conversation with a client yesterday.
Do you want to read this?
Yeah.
Tyler Simmons, implied warranties are a big issue.
Regardless of how on point your docs are at signing, it is still going to cost you loads of money to defend yourself in court.
Don't let your sales associates oversell the customer on what is documented already.
That can be a problem.
And so that kind of ties into be very clear about what it is that you will and will not do and make sure that your salespeople are trained on that.
And audit, if you need to audit, make sure that they're saying, because if you've got people coming up and saying, well, so-and-so said such and such, that is worthy of a conversation.
Yeah.
So this, uh, to speak to Tyler's thing, like I think, I think most of what we're talking about here, we can avoid being in court.
So Tyler's thinking in terms of, you know, legal protection, that's appropriate.
It's just, I'm thinking.
But this is about how to navigate the thing internally very consistently so that, because I think where we have a problem in court is when we've done it for one and not done it for another, that just true across collections and all other aspects of our business.
So, you know, it starts to looks like favoritism and that can get messy.
So, so we want to be super consistent.
We want to hold the customer accountable to whatever the understanding is.
And look, we covered a couple of things that kind of themes that run through all this for me.
And we covered it in our conversation, I think on Wednesday,
And I know that it's come up with some clients in recent weeks.
We got some dealers, by the way, using that buyers and sellers pledge that we introduced weeks ago.
And one of the things that that form does is it says, we will, it's language I've always toyed with.
It's like, we will always honor understandings that are put in writing.
If I just stop there and say nothing more, then what is inferred is that I don't necessarily promise to honor anything that's said verbally.
So really, I'm trying to make sure this is what I talk about with undo.
Let's undo whatever might have been said verbally.
Mm-hmm.
Let's make sure we're on the same page with the customer at the time we sign the agreement.
Because I think it goes back to the whole white hat thing about good fences.
It's like when we have good fences and a clear understanding when we start, then we can maintain a long relationship.
And we honor and we repair that fence.
What is the premise of the good fence thing?
Keep in mind, I grew up in farm country.
I grew up on a little ranch and we had neighbors across a barbed wire fence.
you know when you have a clear boundary and you have a clear understanding then you know as long as people honor those those boundaries and and fulfill you know what was the understanding people get along just great for the longest time it's when those boundaries start to get fuzzy and people start to encroach you know that it starts to get to be a problem so this fits with the conversation i was having with a client just this week about how
They have an exorbitant amount of after sale repairs and they have a short term warranty.
So some of those things are going to be covered under warranty.
But it's like in working through that with them and talking about how do you solve that?
How do you fix that?
I got two things.
Yeah.
If you've got an exorbitant amount of after sale repairs, how well are your cars being reconditioned?
Well, that's especially if that's happening early.
Right.
Yeah.
If you're having that come up in the first.
Because if it's a year later, that is a different conversation to have internally.
But and so there's two pieces I want to get back to.
One is the other thread that lies under this is this idea across customer service and other industries.
We all have heard this thing about the customer's always right.
Customer's always right.
So we have to be super specific about how we it's not that we're.
it's not in the approach that we're recommending that we're going to have customers end up happy, unhappy, at least not for very long.
They could be unhappy.
They're always going to be unhappy when somebody tells them what they don't want to hear.
And you, you rephrase it.
Cause if you just like face value, say the customer's always right.
I have to do what the customer wants.
It's going to cost you a lot of money.
But I love how Jim has rephrased that is the customer's react, the customer's,
reality is your reality.
I mean, it's like what the customer thinks, the perception is your reality.
And so the, that, that changes what it is that we have to, to address is their perception and not, and, and yeah.
Yeah.
And how we handle this when you're, when you're established business is, is tricky.
Like one of the ways that I've always done this and we got a client, this client that we're working with has hundreds of accounts already and
And so the approach for me is always, look, let's, let's, let's close this.
Let's stop this bleeding first, which is any new deliveries we do after a certain date, we're going to have those, they're out of the language the way we want it.
We're going to be very consistent.
We're going to handle them the same way after delivery.
So regardless of what's written on the, we owe, then, then you refer to what's on the buyer's guide.
What's in any kind of warranty.
We're going to honor that.
We're going to stick to that.
We're going to emphasize that with the customer.
And then the,
We just have to be careful then.
We have to be prepared to commit to this idea.
So again, all contracts going forward is we're going to hand them all the same way.
And we're not going to do for one customer what we wouldn't do for every customer.
And now that means you can have some customers unhappy for a little bit.
I mean, when I tell them, yeah, unfortunately, that's out of warranty.
Your warranty expired two weeks ago.
And so this is going to be your financial responsibility as we talked about.
It doesn't mean we won't help you.
So this is an important thing to say.
And so it gets wrapped into...
Um, the whole thing.
And so I, I stopped there.
I don't say how we're helped them because actually the remedies might vary on a case by case basis.
Well, and the customer status is different.
Like in other words, what they're eligible for might vary.
And what the dealer offers.
I mean, some, some places it's a, it's a as is.
And so you, you deal with, um, you know, are you holding firm to your as is?
And some of them have warranties and service contracts and things like that, that they, they can lean into when it's something that's not just, you know, shortly after delivery, but.
Yeah.
And I think another way that I would try to assert the language.
And if I were training and working with a new dealer, which we are, we got a brand new dealer starting soon and we're working with this dealer as well established.
And I think the way I would say this, and I would replace the phrase, the customer's always right with something along the line is of the
The customer is always financially responsible for those things that I did not take responsibility for in writing.
The end.
The customer is always financially responsible for those things that I did not promise in writing to fulfill in the agreement.
So that's the way it should be, right?
And so I want many of you, as you hear that, say, oh, but Jim, Jim.
Like you got to ask yourself how much of that is you as the dealer making an exception and breaking practices.
And when you start making those exceptions, what's the basis?
Why, why would you agree to make an exception for this one customer?
Cause they're a little more unhappy.
Yeah.
mean so so that doesn't that create a precedent where the long the more i stomp around the more noise i make the more help i'm going to get that's not a pattern of precedent we want to create in our business and so we have to we have to we have to be able to draw that line and make sure that so keep in mind everything i'm suggesting here does not mean we're going to end up with a bunch of unhappy customers i did tell my client the other day it's got hundreds of accounts when we implement this policy at the first of january
You're going to limit your after-sale repairs.
You may see a few more charge-offs, but we're going to get a lid on this.
And when you have habitually had a practice of that, it will take some retraining of your team and the customer.
And all the practices that I'm recommending, too, everything that we try to implement, we are never asking a customer to do something unreasonable.
Okay.
And if you really want to, it's like, I want to be able to support the customer through this entire contract.
We can and should.
Then we have things that we can put into place that will help with that, that don't make it your personal financial responsibility as a dealer to do it.
But there are safeguards and safety nets.
There's a lot of products out there that can help you support them.
And I know we really encourage dealers to have those kind of products.
If you plan on supporting, then have the products.
If you're an as-is, it doesn't matter.
You're obviously not going to have it.
I'm not 100% sure on this.
We try not to be attorneys out here, and we don't know the UCC stuff across the country.
But I would say that I'm not sure every state can do side notes, side loans.
I know that some states are not allowed.
Most states are not allowed to charge interest on side notes.
So there's all this stuff to figure out.
Exactly how you would support the customer can vary.
in your state and in your own practices.
But I would just first say, let's make sure we get super consistent in those practices and that we can show that we don't do it for one if we're not prepared to do it for everybody.
And we can ultimately make the customer happy
So we have ways to solve the customer's problem and get them back on the road.
That's not what we're saying.
But the question is, how do we do that?
And do I pay for it?
Do I, as a dealer, accept financial responsibility for it?
And if so, why?
If we're doing it in this context of customer service, it just scares me.
And I'm not an attorney, but as a former business owner, current business owner, I think I just... I like good fences.
I don't... Why would I... Why would I...
make an exception and do because i i know people try to make this idea well i want to see the customer happy and i want to have a good thing to say about okay yeah but where does that end
You did it today and yeah, you're going to have them sign a little goodwill thing and it's a one-time thing.
Is it really a one-time thing?
Will you do it again in two months if the customer has a different problem?
So it's like, you know, you just sort of nullify the stuff.
And so I think this is why I like clear boundaries.
I like to see the customer held accountable to what is their responsibility.
And again, doesn't mean we won't help and support them in
Plenty of ways.
Lots of ways.
We can get payment relief.
We can help them save money on parts.
We can help save money on labor.
There's all kinds of ways we can help.
But it's like the point is, all those things that are, today we're to talk about WIOs.
And we'll come back and talk specifically about the WIO document at the point of closing.
But I think all of these conversations have to be anchored in this idea, are we going to hold the customer accountable or not?
And so that's really what makes it difficult.
And I'm just going to tell you, we can solve a lot of this by just making a decision
to hold the customer accountable to what is theirs, we will quickly fulfill what is our responsibility, right?
That's what we do.
So especially as a white hat dealer, we're gonna quickly fulfill what we promise to do.
And we're gonna ask the customer to do the same thing.
And so this is kind of where I'm coming from.
So back to WIO.
So the WIO document, for those not familiar, is just basically a document that's included in most every sales bundle, retail deal, buy here, pay here deal.
And it basically says,
if you're promised anything after delivery, it should be listed on this document, you know, in a simple way to think about it.
It's like, if, if there's anything that we owe you after delivery, it should be right here.
So if I promised to get you a free oil change in a month, or if I promised you free tire rotation,
that's not in the other documents then it goes on the wii o and so you know in my and i've told the story plenty of times the very first buy here pay here deal i did as a manager went off to training came back and was managing the store and customers coming in shopping and the very first customer that came up is and happens to buy an old minivan and he's he said i would buy that van if you would get the windows tinted
and keep in mind i worked for like two and a half years in the retail franchise world before different world yeah and i came out of my mouth when he said um you know get the windows i said sure we'd do that and i was i probably hadn't even written the weo yet and i'm like why did i do that
What?
I could have just adjusted.
I could adjust to the price.
I could adjust to the down payment.
Let them go handle themselves.
I would say that it's like, it's because the mentality in, in, um, regular retail is you get the sale, you get people happy and on their way and on their way and on their way.
And that, you know, when you sell something regular retail, you don't, when someone, um, it's a very different relationship.
The loan is not with you.
The loan is with the bank.
Sure.
And, and it's just, it's just a very different kind of relationship.
And usually the salespeople are commissioned based on how many they close and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah.
And so it's like, do what you need to do to close the sale.
Say what, you know, that kind of thing.
That's kind of the sales mentality.
I think this is, you know, I always remember years ago in South Texas, I was with a dealer and I said, you know, there's,
there's some inherent problems between having the sales department and the collection department separated, right?
When you're, when you have their separate department, like there's some inherent problems.
He looked at me like, boy, that's an understatement.
You know, it's like, there's some problems there.
So salespeople are salespeople and they want to promise to get the deal done.
And probably they have a commission writing on it, whatever.
So I think this is why these documents become so, so critical.
And I just think we have an opportunity when we close these deals to put a lid on a lot of this stuff.
And so the way we do it is exactly those things we're talking about.
So let me also offer this, because I know we would have talked about this in the past, but I know not everybody sees every episode and I'm not even sure where to tell them to find the thing we talked about before.
But this idea that when we write a WIO,
I would just ask, because we also hear a lot of dealers talk about how behind they are in their service department.
Okay.
So here's an opportunity to not bring service work back into your own building.
Okay.
So let's, let's, let's break this one down pretty carefully.
Cause I, I did this very successfully in my career.
I mean, I,
I almost never had anything on a WIO document.
Why?
Because I made sure it was done before the car was ever delivered.
And so I always challenged my dealers that are new.
Let's, let's try to set up our business in a way that every single WIO can say nothing promised after delivery.
So how would you do that?
Well, one, you would make sure your cars were well conditioned before they went on the lot that they were ready and you'd gone as far as you're going to go.
Then if a customer says,
look i would buy that car if you would put a new battery in it you know that battery cables look a little corroded or whatever the terminals a little corroded so if you just put a new battery in it i would buy it so tell you what i'll do i will just what if we just adjusted battery's going to run you 100 150 what if i just adjusted from the selling price of the car 150 and you just arrange the battery the battery's fine start in the car now if you want to just arrange a battery at your convenience
You can go buy a battery at your convenience store and adjust it from the price.
No, no, no, I don't have the cash.
Well, okay.
What if I adjust it from your down payment?
$150.
And we'll just, instead of you doing $1,000, we'll do $850 today.
What a much less expensive way.
Well, and it doesn't tie up my service department.
Yeah, it doesn't tie up your service department.
The customer can get that battery done at their own convenience, at the shop of their choosing, and I'm done.
Like, my part is fulfilled.
I don't have anything in my service department that's keeping me from reconditioning my cars.
that are, you know, coming to the lot.
And so I'm just, I'm unencumbered.
I'm not tethered.
I don't have that customer coming in for an appointment.
And then I don't have the customer sitting back there unhappy because what should have taken 45 minutes to do a battery, they're still there after two hours.
Because, you know, it's just, why would I bring that on myself?
And so it's like, that's a way that we can start to with a WIO.
I would just challenge all my dealers to just say, what would it take?
for you to make sure every we owe said nothing promised after delivery.
And so when we do that, then if you can get there and you can, you can, because alternatively you could help that customer choose another car that doesn't have corroded terminals.
You know what I mean?
It's an interesting thing that you talk about is like taking it off the down payment.
That if you're someone that has done we owes an awful lot in the past,
that that's a cheaper way in time and resources to be able to get the customer taken care of.
And because it's going to come if you're someone that fixes everything, it's going to come out of your pocket anyway.
That's really my point.
So it's just, it's, you know, and maybe it's a little cheaper for me to do the battery or whatever, but I think we're missing the point if we think that way, because yeah, I might, I might be costing myself a few bucks by adjusting the down payment 150, but I'm also saving myself a whole lot of headaches.
What's it worth to not have that customer sitting in your service department waiting for that battery install?
Of course, some of us want to introduce the customers to our service department.
And I'm simply saying,
there's plenty of opportunity for that.
That customer would be back in three months with something else.
It's like, but, but this is an area where we sometimes bring work on ourselves that is avoidable.
And I think this is where I just say, just, I would challenge dealers to just make them all say nothing promised.
Well, and I, I, um, it's, it's just something that came into my mind about, you know, uh,
let's take it off the down payment, is that it really does help the salespeople be cognizant and aware of what it is that they are promising or what it is that they're doing.
Um, because with a lot of dealers, commissions are, are based on down payment.
And so it's like, you know, you can take it out of the down payment guys kind of thing.
You can take it out of the down payment.
If, if, if you feel like it needs to, and it's, what's going to close the thing, take it out of the down payment.
And it's, it's, it'll, it'll place the burden on the salespeople to not over promise.
Um, and then not cost the dealership a lot of money.
well yeah and i i think i would first i don't know if you picked up my first offer to take it off of the selling price because that that way we were able to hold the full down payment which helps us from a cash standpoint i would always offer to take it off the selling price first and i would say based on my own experience probably two-thirds of the time taking it off of the selling price was suitable for the customer and you just reduce the price and you make a note like if i did that i would write because we get ourselves in trouble by discounting in a buy here payer environment so
If we just were very specific on the buyer's order, there's $150 price adjustment, customer buying their own battery.
And so it explains why we did the adjustment and it solves the thing about the bottleneck in our service department for next week when the customer is trying to get an appointment and come back in.
And so this is where we can solve headaches.
This is where we can tie up things in a nice little bow, you know, before they when the customer takes delivery.
And I think again, I think you'll find none of us really want to take it out of the down payment.
We'd rather have the full down payment.
But, but if you have to, it's, I would ask you, isn't it the same money?
You're going to keep the 150 from the customer and then you're going to spend 150 for a battery in your service department and you're going to have all that time tied up.
And so I would just say, let's, let's, let's look at that and try not to, to get ourselves tied up in all that.
And, and again,
We know the outcome can be customers still be happy.
And again, we understand that probably at the time that we're telling them no, because their warranty expired, they're unhappy for a bit.
And we're going to have to get better at having those conversations and helping the customer kind of get past that.
But at the end, aren't we really just asking them to do something reasonable?
We're asking them to do what was agreed.
That's all we're doing.
We're asking them to do what was agreed.
And if we're if we can't get better at having those conversations, then we're going to have a lot of after sale repairs.
Absolutely.
And so I think this is where we want to try to start to solve some of that.
But well, if there's anything that we can help you with, there's two ways to get in touch with Jim.
And this is like a direct one of his Jim at White Hat Way dot com.
And which is kind of like a little introduction teaser for where we're going with octane and all of that.
And then the other one is if you can call or text at 903-816-0216.
If there's something that we can help you with or like put you on the right path of where to go, feel free to give us a, give us, when I say us, they're reaching out to Jim directly.
But if they ask a question, I can't answer, I'll forward it to you soon.
Oh, okay.
Because you know, yeah, that, that works.
Because everybody knows you're the smart one around here.
Yeah.
No, I'm just the one that handles the board.
Oh, you say so.
All right, everybody.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
Enjoy your Christmas Eve on Sunday.
And your holiday.
And those of you who are observing Hanukkah and solstice, and it's like there's all sorts of stuff.
Look for that pre-recorded episode on Monday.
And again, we understand you probably won't see it on Monday morning, but you're going to want to find this one.
It's pretty important stuff.
Yeah.
Have a great rest of your weekend.
And then we will see you live on Wednesday.
